Q: What is the Society for Icelandic Studies in Japan?

A: It is an academic society that provides the place for
correspondence, exchanging information and presentation of papers for those
who study history, languages or cultural studies of either Iceland or related
northern European countries.

Q: What is the first motivation to form the society?

A: Professor Yukio Taniguchi, the first chairperson of the
society wrote as follows [translated from Japanese]:

The Academic Circle for Icelandic Society
[so-called at the beginning] was first established with the attendants’
applause at the first conference on 16th May, 1981.

Some had previously occupied themselves
with deep studies of Icelandic language, history or geology, based upon various motivations from each other.
Eventually, with a desire to accerelate communication among scholars with
the common interests, some sprouted the motives to improve and make replete
academic activities with a nation-wide organization around the end of 1979.
Thanks to those who promoted agreements and mutual understandings by way
of laborious efforts, our society was finally founded … (Bulletin
of the Society of Icelandic Studies of Japan 1 (1981): 1).

Q: How does your society proceed academic activities of Icelandic
Studies?

A: Our Society attempts to inherit those prior academic
contributions and promote to establish academic basement for those younger
students. Present tendencies in recent studies, however, are departmentalization
and specialization of each field. Especially among younger scholars the
tendency of limiting their range of interests is conspicuous. This limitation
can only be emancipated by way of publicize the list of prior literature.
Our aim has not been changed from those first former of the society: ie. ‘having
neither specialized institute nor certain amount of sholary groups for
Northern Studies in Japan, we had suffered inability to investigate sufficiently
owing to lack of literature and information. … While we are to proceed
to our personal aims, provided with mutual respects, we are now able to
progress our studies by way of liberal and positive discussion, which eventually
prolifirate academic activities of Icelandic studies in Japan (Bulletin
of the Society of Icelandic Studies of Japan 1 (1981): 1)’.

Q: What is this homepage for?

A: In order to broaden intellectual exchange and to activate
Icelandic and Northen studies in Japan by publishing the prior literature
and contributions.